Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Being in Alaska is disorienting, living with 22 hours of sunlight
brings one to appreciate what feels like a relentless Solstice.Surrounded by boundless expanses of
green it feels as if Gaia herself is holding onto the light; letting summer
continue to hold sway upon the land in a never ending dance of joyous divinity.

All that grows stands at the foundation of mighty glaciers
that remind those that behold the sight of a basic truth of nature, that the
darkness arrives before the light in perpetuity.Here the divine expressions of nature wash over the observer
in powerful undulations that nourish ones understanding of the sacred.

This land holds her people as minor expressions of
creation upon a landscape of powerful spirits that exist within its’ herds and
wonderers of extraordinary size and power.Here the bear is not simply a wild animal but the acknowledged
master of a sacred expanse that stretches beyond the inner vision of even the
most gifted shaman.

Rivers teem with water spirits ever engaged in an annual
journey that ultimately nourishes all the expressions of the Goddess that walk
the land. To journey by water is to reach back to a time when this earth
existed as divinity intended to manifest it.Mountains stand century upon seashores that have existed
since long before humans started to worship the achievement in grandeur that
surrounds bountiful seas.

There is humility here for humanity. One is overcome with a sense
that it is we who have distorted nature: repurposed it for our own destructive
and immoral benefit.It is in
standing among the dense forests of green that humans can truly grasp our small
place as a single thread in the cloth of diversity that the Goddess has woven.

Here one can stand in full awe and awareness of one of the
purposes of the UU community. “Direct
experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures,
which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which
create and uphold life”

Upon this landscape one understands that the “forces, which create and uphold life” are
so expansive that a right relationship with nature includes an understanding of
how humans must return to their intended place as just one of Gaia’s creatures.

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Over the years I have taken some flack and good-natured
kidding from many individuals about my shoes. From my friend Patrick McCollum
saying I was displacing him as the only “wing tipped Pagan” to co-workers
teasing that if I take my shoes off my socks would shine also!

A 15 Year old pair of shoes

These comments prompted me to explore this life long habit
of taking excessive care of my footwear. At first I suspected that it was just
a habit instilled in me by my successful and old school father. What my exploration revealed was,
however, much more profound and related to my personal sense of well being,
reduction of stress levels and a consistent source of grounding in my life (no
pun intended)

As I engaged in shining my shoes I discovered that the
process took my full attention; gone were my concerns, thought processes and
every day planning.Additionally I
noticed that as the process progressed that it was so familiar that I was not thinking
about the shining process but rather in a state of mindfulness, my mind blank.
As I fully considered the process it was evident that my pulse slowed, my
stress disappeared and a sense of joyfulness settled over me.

Strange how the most basic rituals of daily life can so
fully support a healthy state of mind.So now I am looking for other activities in my life that bring me to
this place of connectedness and openness to divinity. My question to you my blessed community is, what long-standing rituals
of daily life support your ability to reduce stress, live in the present and
find peace?

Magik surrounds us, even the most basic of activities,
established long before we embraced our current path, are rituals that can
bring much comfort and sense of well being.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Yes it is true, I consider myself an individual broken, fundamentally flawed in oh so many ways.I am, I believe, just as the Goddess intended me to be.For too long our wider society has emphasized the need for absolute competence, lack of insecurity and bold confident action.

For decades I have known this about my self. I have known that my failures belong to me alone.With each defeat, I have had reinforced the secret knowledge that the outcome has been due to my own ignorance or laziness or feelings or fear, or, or, or. Yes I am flawed and it is in my flaws that my humanity is manifest. Now don’t think that I am succumbing to some monotheistic idea of the fallen nature of man. I believe I am a better person for my flaws, just as the Goddess intended me to be.

The Gods I follow are also flawed; many having engaged in the very behaviors that tend to create disasters in my personal life. Gaia herself, is also flawed. With each natural disaster I respond to I witness the destruction of so much that is divinity manifest, so much beauty destroyed.

After reading the many recent posts in the community about why our community is so contentious, I wonder why so many expect that those who step forward to write or lead, be flawless, humanity removed?How is it that we who profess to venerate deities who have very human flaws expect our community members to not reflect their humanity in statements, actions and thoughts?

Maybe, just maybe, it is time we added a dash of compassion, a teaspoon of empathy, a pinch of understanding and a large dose of reality to the cauldron of Pagan expectations and brew up a new more open and workable discourse in our community. A discussion that embraces our shared humanity as an expression of the Divine.